I'm new to Ae. This is a widely discussed error message going back to CS3. I've watched tutorials, video suggestions on Youtube, Video Co-Pilot, Adobe forums and the Ae help site. Even searched this forum.

How do I lower the resolution of my Ae comp so it will render??? I've tried all the setting(s) suggestions. Even lowered the resolution of my asset imports. Help please.

You can reduce resolution in your render settings. Won't probably do you any good, though. That error is probably caused by some effect you are using that expands the footage pixels way beyond the original dimensions. blurs and glows are good candidates for that. so unless you find the culprit, it's possible it will never render. And of course check your OpenGL settings and turn it off by setting your comp viewer to Final Quality to avoid potential iisues there.